Fool's Games
by tomrikersfakesideburns
Summary: The Enterprise is dispatched to salvage a lost piece of Earth's pre-warp space exploration history when they discover a subspace abnormality and a three hundred year old conspiracy in the heart of Starfleet. How far as Humanity really come since 2152? Written as a TNG episode, but gives a conclusion to some of the major unresolved plots of Defying Gravity. 1st chapter complete.


Standard copyright disclaimers apply. This story takes place shortly after the series finale of TNG but before Generations. In addition to using the complete 13 episode first season of Defying Gravity it also incorporates plot elements and potential story lines from the unproduced second and third seasons of that series.

**Prologue**

Space travel really was a fools game. Not just the idea of organisms that relied on air and water to live floating in a tin can through a vast expanse that had neither and which would bust them open like a pinata if they were ever exposed directly to it's vacuum, though certainly those were major drawbacks to the notion. But the idea that Human beings, stubborn, selfish, violent, and petty were cut out to step beyond the tiny ball of water and dirty they were born on. That was the really foolish part. At one time he thought that space exploration brought out the best in people, and that maybe through discovering the mysteries of space, Humanity could find the best within itself. But he no longer could believe that. Not after finding out what his real mission was. Not after returning to the surface of Mars and discovering the terrible truth that had been hidden from him the whole time. A species capable of inflicting such misery and of squandering such opportunity deserved to stay right where it was. But he would not be there to see Humanity earn it's reward of a slow and pointless death as Earth's resources were exhausted and it's environment collapsed. Neither would any of his crewmates who had seen first hand the brutish stupidity of Earth's leaders. They would deny those brutes what they desired, even at the cost of their own lives. A course was plotted and set, and eight fragile Human beings set an outbound course away from the tiny blue ball they had been born on to face a cold death in the beyond the stars.

**Chapter One: Antares**

_Captain's log, Stardate 48232.4. The Enterprise has been diverted from her previous course by Starfleet Command, on a mission of historical preservation._

Captain Jean-Luc Picard had assembled his senior staff in the ship's observation lounge to brief them on the mission orders he had just received.

"Six days ago, our subspace telescope in the Argus system observed an unknown vessel pass within sixty light years of the station. Continued monitoring of the craft revealed it to be adrift in space. Analysis of the telescope's telemetry has identified the vessel as the SS _Antares_."

The Enterprise's first officer, Commander Riker raised an eyebrow.

"_Antares?_" he said in the tone he might use dressing down a junior ensign. "The Bertram Folly?"

"The very same, Number One" Picard confirmed.

Commander Data, the Enterprise's operations officer searched his positronic memory for the briefest of moments before speaking. "The SS _Antares_was a pre-warp Earth spaceship, launched in 2052. It's mission was to tour Earth's solar system, conducting crewed landings on six planets. Somehow, it lost contact with Earth just after leaving Mars orbit. Contact was never re-established and it was declared lost as of 2053.

Riker nodded. "It was the subject of Admiral Yoba's Special Topics in Command seminar at the Academy. He considered it to be the quintessential case study of everything for a command officer not to do on a deep space mission."

"It wasn't a great era for space exploration" remarked Commander LaForge, the ship's chief engineer. "More than half the missions that made it out of Earth's gravity well failed one way or another. Making it back with all hands alive was no small feat."

"That is true" Data observed. "It was also the era of the failed _Ares IV_ Mars mission in 2032, the International Space Organization mission to Mars a decade later that resulted in two crewmembers being stranded on the planet's surface, and the _Charybdis_mission to escape the Sol solar system in 2037 which was waylaid to the Theta 116 system."

Riker winced slightly and Lieutenant Worf shifted uncomfortably in his chair at Data's mention of the _Charybdis_. For the emotionless android, it had been just another mission, but both Riker and Worf had been deeply disturbed on an existential level by their discovery of the remains of the _Charybdis'_ last surviving crewmember, who had lived out his final years in an alien facsimile of a pulp novel, his epitaph speaking of a fate worse than death. _I hold no malice toward my benefactors; they could not possibly know the hell they have put me through, for it was such a badly written book..._

"In some ways the _Antares _was the crowning achievement of humankind's inaptitude during the post-World War III era" said the ship's chief medical officer, Doctor Beverly Crusher. "A risky, costly venture of questionable scientific merit at a time when humanity could afford it the least."

"And for all the trouble it was resigned to a footnote in history, overshadowed by Human development of the warp drive only a decade later" LaForge remarked dryly.

"No trace of the ship was ever found" said Riker. "The best theory was that it had somehow drifted outside the solar system and gotten lost in deep space. It would seem that theory was correct."

"Indeed." said Picard heavily. "The _Antares _is being tracked on subspace. At it's current trajectory we will overtake it in one and a half days at warp five. Once we have located the ship, we are to assess its status and determine whether it can be made lightspeed worthy. If it can be done so safely, we shall transport it to Starbase 39-Sierra for reclamation and study. Mister Data, research all the technical information we have on the _Antares _and assess our chances of taking her into warp under tractor beam. Mr. LaForge, start developing alternatives in case warp speed proves unsuitable, otherwise it will be a very long journey to the starbase. Dismissed."

The captain stood up, followed by the senior crew, who proceeded on their way to carry out their orders.

* * *

The day continued nominally for the crew of the Enterprise. Commander Data had assigned Lieutenant Junior Andrew Vaughan, the alpha shift watch officer, to take his station at Ops while he used the bridge's computer terminals to access information on the _Antares_. It took him only a few minutes to scan through the several terabytes of information held in the Enterprise's computer on the doomed spaceship, and for the next half hour he continued to page back and forth through the technical schematics, moving at a speed nearly too fast for the human eye to follow. Working at his own pace, he quickly absorbed the schematics of the craft, and evaluated the many distinct possibilities the Enterprise might encounter. If the ship was found in more or less specified condition, it would be able to be towed at warp with little danger to itself or the Enterprise. However, given the time it had spent adrift, the distance it had traversed, and the lack of any maneuvering deflectors it was unlikely to be in such condition. Thus Data was left to consider the more likely scenarios: The _Antares _could be structurally stable, but severally damaged, unable to take the strain of warp travel, but could be somehow repaired or retrofitted with 24th century technology to make the voyage to space dock. It might also be structurally unstable and simply be unable to be towed at all without falling apart. This would require a novel solution, and the android was hard pressed to think of one that the Enterprise could perform without the aid of a specialized salvage starship. However, based on the telemetry provided by the subspace telescope, it appeared that the _Antares _was structurally sound, remarkably so for a ship of it's age that was never intended for travel outside of its home solar system.

Having exhausted the information of the Enterprise' computer library, the android left the bridge and headed to engineering to confer with Commander LaForge. He arrived to find his colleague engaged in a most curious ritual. The chief engineer had replicated a full size classroom schematic of the _Antares _and had placed it over the large display which normally displayed a diagram of the Enterprise. He had cleared the normal graphic and was using the now vacant display as a backlight for the analog chart. The Enterprise' chief engineer now stood, surveying the archaic diagram of the ancient spaceship.

"Geordi..." Data started out unsure what to say. "May I ask what you are.. doing?"

LaForge laughed. "It's not every day I get to work on a three hundred year old Human spaceship, Data. I figured I might as well do it right."

"Right?" asked Data. He felt he had learned so much about the idiosyncrasies of Human behavior in his time on the Enterprise, yet certain impulses still confused him. "It seems... inefficient. Not to mention the fact you are covering up the internal diagram of the Enterprise"

"Don't worry about it" LaForge reassured him. "If an alert goes off, I've got it set to bring the Enterprise schematics back up, and I can just tear this thing down. But there's something about working off a paper chart... you know this is exactly like the schematics the _Antares _crew used in training and at mission control."

Data understood the concept, but was still skeptical.

"I have come to understand how Human beings value old things" he remarked "the Captain and his love of archeology, for example. It provides a connection to the past and momentarily transcends the limits of a linear existence. Yet I do not see the logic of using an ancient paper engineering chart any more than I would see the logic of replacing the Enterprise's warp engines with the _Antares _ion drive system."

"Hey, don't knock the ion drive system." the engineer chastised him "it may not look like much up there on paper, but it's the direct technological basis for our impulse engines."

"That may be so" said Data "but it would still not be an efficient substitute for them."

LaForge shook his head, knowing he would never convince his android friend of the charm of a paper chart. Maybe that was because he didn't fully understand it, but who cares, it was fun to play around in history for a little bit. "What do our recovery options for _Antares _look like?" he asked Data.

"I have studied the _Antares _schematics... on the computer" he added feeling the need to clarify. From any other officer LaForge would have detected sarcasm, but with Data he couldn't tell. "and I believe we have a 30% chance of finding the spaceship in a condition at which we could tow it at warp speed."

"That's better than nothing but still pretty low" LaForge reflected. "What are the other scenarios?"

"That the _Antares _could be repaired on site and brought to warp speed worthy condition, or that it would be infeasible to repair it to such condition, but through modification we might be able to compensate for any structural instability."

LaForge considered this. "What if we retrofitted the ship with a structural integrity field generator?"

Data's computerized brain crunched the numbers. "that would resolve 86.74 percent of foreseeable structural problems well enough to maintain stability to a speed of at least warp one. However, fitting such a system on such an old craft may prove difficult.

LaForge nodded in acknowledgement of this. "Well it sounds like it's our best shot, let's look at the charts and see if there's a way to pull it off."

At 1500 hours Captain Picard left his first officer in charge of the bridge and adjourned to his ready room. With the end of alpha shift at 1700 hours, Riker stopped by to speak to his captain before going off duty.

"Come" Picard announced looking up from his monitor, on hearing the door chime. Riker stepped inside.

"Data's analyzed the schematics of the _Antares_. He thinks that assuming it hasn't decayed very badly that it can be made lightspeed worthy with the installation of a structural integrity field generator. Him and LaForge are studying the best way to outfit it with one."

"Very good, Number One" Picard said, smiling with satisfaction.

"With all due respect for your love of antiquity, Captain" Riker said with a faint smile as he sat down at the desk opposite Picard "but this mission is more likely than not going to be a giant pain in the neck. The chances of that ship being structurally sound are pretty slim. No deflectors, floating in deep space for three centuries... it could be as fragile as space dust."

Picard frowned and nodded "Suggestions?"

"It's too big to bring into any of our cargo or shuttle bays, but the design was inherently modular. We might be able to use the transporter to disassemble it and beam it on board piece by piece. We'd still have to tow it's sun-shield disc and the thruster section, but they're likely to be in much better shape than the rest of the ship."

The captain nodded "We'll keep that as a contingency strategy... although it would be quite an honor to have a piece history on board the Enterprise." He tried to sound matter of fact, but the hint of enthusiasm was clear to his first officer.

Riker smiled broadly "Let me guess: when you were growing up you had a model _Antares _next to your Promellian battlecruiser."

Picard smiled and shook his head "no comment, Number One. But I have spent the last hour going over the databank files on the _Antares _crew. I thought that since we're about to visit their final resting place, as a professional courtesy to our fellow explorers, we should know a bit about who they were."

Riker frowned slightly "Not to speak ill of the dead, but my recollection from Admiral Yoba's seminar was that the crew were a bunch conceited and over-privileged members of the technocratic class that emerged on Earth during the Post-Atomic Horror. People who used their desire to travel the stars as a way to ignore the human suffering on Earth that their unearned ambition immunized them from experiencing. Not exactly ideal explorers, in any era."

Picard smiled ruefully at the cynical yet not inaccurate portrait his first officer painted of the culture of space exploration on Earth in the mid-21st century. "That may be so" he said "But then Zefram Cochrane was a drunk who was prone to womanizing and grandiose exaggerations, who found wisdom in his later years thanks to the potential that interstellar travel had unlocked in humanity, and also in himself. Who are we to say that had the _Antares _mission been successful that it's crew might not have undergone a similar epiphany?"

Riker shook his head "I don't know, but I think the _Antares _mission was more of a monument to the ego of the oligarchs on the Bertram Corporation's board of directors than it was a genuine endeavour of exploration."

Picard nodded somberly. While he had never taken a whole Academy seminar on the _Antares _as Commander Riker had, he knew of the Bertram Corporation and other corporate syndicates that had dominated Earth during the first half of the 21-cenutry. He knew how they had siphoned off the wealth of nations, many of which were still torn by war, starvation, and poverty, and funneled it all into a "grand tour" of Earth's solar system of uncertain scientific value and high risk for the human beings brave enough to take up the challenge such a mission presented. 'We're better than that today' command instructors at the Academy always said. 'Humanity has evolved beyond such self-absorption.'

"That will be all, Number One" Picard said after a moment's reflection "Continue to work with Mister Data and Commander LaForge. I'll expect a pre-mission briefing tomorrow at 0900."

"Aye, sir" Riker said as he stood, and then he left the ready room, leaving Picard alone to think.  
Nothing about the _Antares_ mission made sense except as a means for the corporate conglomerates who masterminded the project to steal public wealth. The form it took was merely a public relations stunt to justify the continuation of such programs after a string of earlier disasters. Despite his unquenchable excitement to come into contact with a piece of the history of Human space exploration, Picard could not deny that the _Antares _mission had been a fools game. A flashy song and dance to justify the continued existence of human spaceflight at a time when it's utility was in doubt. Perhaps all Starfleet officers, maybe even all of humanity owed something to that effort, but it's cost in blood and treasure left a bitter taste in Picard's mouth.

* * *

The following morning on the Enterprise proceeded uneventfully. At the staff briefing, Data and LaForge presented their plans to retrofit the _Antares _with a structural field generator and the power plant to support it. They planned to accomplish this refit of the ancient spaceship by placing the generator and it's power plant in one of the _Antares _cargo pods. The work would complicated somewhat by the radiation buildup that the interior of the spaceship would have accumulated after centuries floating in deep space, which would require the engineering away team to wear environmental suits. Also because of the primitive magnetically induced gravity system on much of the ship, away team members would be required to wear small magnetic field generators on their person while on board. But these issues would pose only a minor inconvenience.

At 11:44 the Enterprise long-range sensors were in reach of the _Antares_. Fifteen minutes later, the spaceship was in visual range.

"On screen" the Captain ordered.

Lieutenant Worf pressed several buttons on his control console and the image on the bridge's view screen changed from the star streaks of the warp field to the port-side profile of a long, dart-shaped craft with a large circular dish mounted vertically at its bow. It was longer than the Enterprise herself by more than a hundred meters, yet excluding the giant disc the circumference of which was roughly the same as the saucer section of a Constitution-class starship, it was only a sliver of her width. The fore-section was bisected by two rotary booms. But more remarkable than the curious architecture of the antique spaceship was the fact it's running lights were illuminated, and the rotary booms still in operation, spinning slowing.

"It's power systems appear to still be functioning" noted Riker. "That's impressive after all this time"

"The ship's nuclear-electric propulsion system was designed to power ship's systems indefinitely" said Data. "In the event of a generator failure, the auxiliary system could draw power from solar collectors on the sun-shield dish to power essential ship systems."

As the Enterprise reached a range of 1000 kilometers of the _Antares_, the Captain ordered his ship out of warp and to close the distance between the two ships to 5000 meters at one quarter impulse.

Now well within range of the Enterprise' active sensors, Picard asked for a full report. "Status, Mister Data?"

Data scanned the spaceship. "Power systems and life support appear to be fully operation. The hull is intact and pressurized. Oxygen levels are within specified parameters. Magnetic gravity system is functioning normally. Radiation levels aboard the ship are within acceptable levels for Human exposure."

Picard stood from his command chair and took two steps towards the view screen, peering out at the _Antares _with curiosity. "How can that be? Ships of that era were not effectively shielded from radio activity. After three centuries in space the interior should be flooded with radiation."

Data shook his head slightly "I am uncertain how to account for the discrepancy." he continued his sensor sweep. "Captain, I am also detecting some anomalous subspace readings coming from the mid-section of the ship."

Picard frowned "do they pose any danger?"

Data continued to type commands into his console.

"I do not believe so, sir" the Android said.

Picard nodded briskly. "Very well. Number One, assemble an away team. Let's see if we can find some answers to the mysterious fortune of the _Antares._"

"Aye, sir" Riker stood up. "Riker to LaForge, meet us in transporter room three, Data, Worf, you're with me."

The two officers left their stations in the hands of the bridge's junior officers, and headed with Commander Riker for the turbolift. A few minutes later, the away team of four officers beamed aboard the _Antares_, materializing into the anteroom between the ship's flight and the observation decks LaForge and Data both pulled out their tricorders and began scanning the interior of the ship.

"No unusual readings, Commander" said Data

"But it looks like someone left the lights on" noted LaForge. Sure enough the lights in the corridor appeared to be at normal levels, rather than those that would be expected for a ship running on its back up power system.

"Let's check the flight deck first" said Riker.

The crew made their way to the ship's command center, which hummed with the reverberations of ancient computer systems, their displays casting pale blue light over the small room.

"No one here" remarked Riker.

"So, the crew did not die at their duty posts" observed Worf, clearly unimpressed.

"They were lost in space" said Riker. "They probably died in bed of starvation, assuming they didn't take their own lives in despair"

"If they did take their own lives then they should have done so at their stations" insisted the Klingon. Riker wasn't sure that he disagreed.

Data walked over to the mission control station and examined it. "It appears the ship's systems have been configured for extended deep space flight" he reported.

"That would make sense" said LaForge. "The ship was outbound from Mars orbit to it's next planet stop at Jupiter when contact was lost."

Riker had walked over to the helm and examined the pilot's display. "Except the last entered heading isn't for Jupiter" he remarked. "In fact, coming from Mars, this heading isn't for inside the Sol system at all. The course as laid in would take them out of the solar system and into deep space."

Both Data and LaForge were puzzled by this. "Maybe it was a navigational error?" reasoned LaForge.

Data shook his head "That would be unlikely. The automated computer guidance system would prevent such an error on the part of the crew."

"What if the computer malfunctioned and they couldn't override it?" asked Riker.

Data considered this. "That would account for the errant heading, but all ship's systems appear to be functioning normally."

"We'll have plenty of time later to solve the mystery of how the _Antares _got here" said Riker. "Let's continue our search of the ship."

The away team made their way back from the flight deck to the observation deck and made their way down to the crew's living area. They searched room by room, finding traces of the crew that had once occupied these quarters, yet not their remains. Searching the medical and science bays provided no further clues to the final resting place of the ship's crew.

"No place left to look but the cargo pods" remarked Riker.

At that moment, aboard the bridge of the Enterprise, Lieutenant JG Vaughan who was stationed at ops in Data's absence saw something unusual on his sensor readout. "Captain!" he announced "I'm detecting another subspace anomaly. It's much stronger than before and it appears to be coming from one of the cargo pods."

"Enterprise to away team" said Picard. "We're detecting another subspace anomala coming from one of the _Antares _cargo pods. What is your status?"

Back on the _Antares_, Riker tapped his combadge. "We're getting those readings too, Captain" he reported "We're proceeding to the cargo section now."

"Use caution, Number One" Picard instructed him. "Transporter room three. Lock onto the away team and prepare to beam them out if there's trouble."

On the _Antares _the four officers made their way to the connecting corridor that lead to the cargo section. Worf drew his phaser and Data and LaForge continued to take tricorder readings as they made their way down the passage. When they got to the hatch at the far end, the team paused. Data scanned the hatchway.

"The subspace anomaly seems to be emanating from behind this hatch" he reported.

"Is it safe to enter?" asked Riker.

"Unknown" Data replied.

Riker nodded and tapped his combadge "Away team to Enterprise, have you got a transporter lock on us?"

"Affirmative" came the reply.

"Alright" said Riker "We're about to open the hatch to the cargo section where the anomaly is located. Be prepared for an emergency beam out if this goes sour."

With that, the Enterprise' first officer signaled for the away team to position themselves. LaForge took up position at the hatch controls. Riker nodded to him, and he triggered the hatchway mechanism.

The hatch slid open when suddenly a blinding golden light poured out and a loud, deep reverberating moan, like the song of whales, echoed through the corridor.

On the bridge of the Enterprise, the surreal noise flooded through the open com signal. Captain Picard arose to his feet.

"Status?" he yelled over the noise.

"Captain" Lieutenant Vaughan shouted "We've lost our transporter lock on the away team! The anomaly is right on top of them!"

Counselor Troi stared out at the image of the Antares on the viewscreem. "I sense a prescense on board Antares" she said. "There's someone there with them".

For the four officers on the Antres it seemed that time had frozen for a moment, but suddenly the strange golden light disappeared and the sound stopped. As the officers became once again aware of their surroundings, a short, black haired man wearing an _Antares _duty jumpsuit stumbled from the other side of the hatch and collapsed at Riker's feet.

"Away team, report!" came Picard's voice over the com. "Do you copy?"

"Riker here" the first officer responded "We've located one of the _Antares _crewmembers... alive!"


End file.
